Winnipegger cracks 75-year-old bookstore safe
A Winnipeg Transit driver with a knack for safe-cracking is being celebrated after unlocking a mysterious old safe in a Baltimore book store last week.
The safe, believed to be at least 75 years old, was already in the building when Red Emma's Bookstore took over the space last year. The store issued a challenge online a few weeks ago, asking people to come down and try to open the safe.
Winnipegger Rick Ammazzini took up cracking safes as a hobby 12 years ago. He heard about the challenge through an online group of fellow safe-cracking enthusiasts.
"As a joke they put it in the group, saying 'you should go and do this!' As a rebuttal I said if you guys pay for it, I’ll go do it."
Ammazzini started a crowdfunding campaign to raise the $1,300 needed for airfare. Within four days, he hit his goal.
He flew to Baltimore last Wednesday. Upon arrival, he immediately headed to the bookstore.
"Usually this lock should only take an hour or an hour and a half," he said. "I was met with some trouble, the lock wasn’t performing the way it should have been."
Ammazzini spent five hours on that first day trying to crack the safe, with no success. After the store closed for the day, he checked in with his online group for help.
"These guys have way more knowledge about the type of locks, the brand of the locks, how old the locks are, how they’re manufactured and which safes have this certain kind of locks," Ammazzini said.
The discussion helped him find out what kind of lock he was dealing with, and how it was constructed.
"The next day, with that knowledge, I was able to sort of discern what the lock was doing and what failures I was feeling," said Ammazzini.
He showed up when the store opened, and spent all day Thursday turning the safe's dial and listening for imperfections in the gears.
"I was touching the dial for ten hours," he said. "My hands were actually black from the brass, I was touching it so long."
Finally, with ten minutes left until closing time, Ammazzini unlocked the safe. He tested the door to make sure it would open, but the store owner wanted to wait until the next morning to look inside.
Ammazzini didn't have his hopes up that there would be anything of value in the safe.
"I know from experience that there really never is anything in there," he said. "The store owner was very excited because he doesn’t have the letdowns that I've had, where I open up the safe an there's never anything in there … he thinks it's filled with gold and diamonds."
Ultimately, there was nothing of value in the safe. Just some empty wooden drawers, some paper clips and an old paystub. Ammazzini said it was still a great experience.
"Baltimore is not the city people make it out to be, it's a nice town, everybody was friendly."
He said anyone with an old safe they want opened should give him a call. "I’m not going to promise I’m going to get it open, but I can come and try."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Singh won't support Conservative non-confidence motion that uses his own words
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he won't play Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's games by voting to bring down the government on an upcoming non-confidence motion.
Calgary man who drove U-Haul over wife sentenced to 15 years
A Calgary man who killed his wife in 2020 when he drove over her in a loaded U-Haul has been sentenced to 15 years behind bars.
Joly touts 'private' diplomacy as Mexico criticizes Canada's culture, trade
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is not escalating a war of words with Mexico, after the Mexican president criticized Canada's culture and its framing of border issues.
Canada Post strike: Kids no longer need to mail their letters to Santa by the end of the week
Canada Post says it has removed the deadline for its Santa Claus letter program amid an ongoing national workers' strike that has halted mail delivery leading up to the holiday season.
South Korean president says he will lift martial law after lawmakers vote to reject his move
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said early Wednesday that he would soon lift the military rule he imposed overnight, after the parliament voted to reject his martial law declaration.
Another case of 'zombie deer' disease confirmed in B.C.'s Kootenays
Health officials have confirmed a fourth case of chronic wasting disease in B.C.’s Kootenay region, prompting calls for a swift cull to prevent further spread.
Man severely injured saving his wife from a polar bear attack in the Far North
A man was severely injured Tuesday morning when he leaped onto a polar bear to protect his wife from being mauled in the Far North community of Fort Severn.
Video shows 'completely unprovoked' stranger attack in Vancouver, police say
Police in Vancouver are searching for witnesses after a seemingly random and unprovoked assault was captured on video in the city's downtown core.
Family feels abandoned by Canada as woman struggles to flee civil war in Syria
It is the first time control of the city has shifted since 2016, when government forces, backed by Russia and Iran, defeated the rebels who controlled Aleppo's eastern districts.